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Introduction to the special issue gender and children's friendships: do girls' and boys' friendships constitute different peer cultures, and what are the trade-offs for development?

Article Excerpt
Two theoretical perspectives are introduced as frameworks for organizing these essays on gender and friendship. The two cultures perspective (Maccoby, 1998) logically begins with the robust phenomenon of gender segregation from the preschool years through middle childhood and proposes that girls' and boys' groups develop different peer cultures and socialize one another in different ways. The second approach extends the two cultures theory by proposing that distinctive features of girls' and boys' peer relationships confer particular developmental advantages but also vulnerabilities for each group (Rose & Rudolph, 2006). This introduction outlines how the results of the six empirical studies in this special issue might inform the two cultures and emotional trade-offs perspectives.

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... when girls and boys are engaged in social play, they congregate primarily with others of their own sex during the preschool and middle childhood years, and ... different childhood "cultures" prevail in these gender segregated groups. Maccoby (1998, p. 1) ... seriously considering trade-offs of sex-linked relationships styles will enhance our understanding of the complex costs and benefits of female and male peer groups as developmental contexts. Rose and Rudolph (2006, p. 126)

Extensive research has focused on the gender differences underlying the interpersonal styles and friendships of girls and boys (for reviews, see Maccoby, 1998; Rose & Rudolph, 2006). The friendships of girls are often portrayed as more intense, more intimate, and of higher quality than those of boys. The friendships of boys have been described as more focused on activities, less intimate, and more stable than those of girls. Yet some of these claims are supported by sparse empirical evidence, and little research has examined the costs and benefits of these relationship qualities for each gender group. This special issue will address how gender influences girls' and boys' friendships.

One theoretical perspective for organizing the myriad number of questions that could be posed about gender and friendships is the two cultures perspective, summarized by Maccoby (1998). The two cultures perspective logically begins with the well-documented phenomenon of gender segregation that at least at school, children play primarily with their same-gender peers beginning in the third year of life (Serbin, Moller, Gulko, Powlishta, & Colbourne, 1994) and continuing...

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